Afari-Gyan to address Nigeria’s senators’ retreat on reform

Nigeria’s Senate ad-hoc committee reviewing the country’s 1999 Constitution has invited the chairman of the Electoral Commission of Ghana, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, to speak at its forthcoming retreat in Kaduna State. Also expected to speak at the forum, which will be attended by the Speakers of the 36 states’ houses of assembly, is the chairperson of the defunct Electoral Reform Committee and former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Muhammadu Uwais. The retreat will hold on October 8 and 9, 2009. A statement, on Sunday, in Abuja, by the Office of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who also heads the 44-member committee, said Dr. Afari-Gyan’s presentation is titled “Designing Electoral Laws for Effective Election Management: Global and Regional Perspective.” The topic, according to the statement, will touch on the legal framework for elections, constitutional courts and independent candidacy among other issues. “As you might be aware, Dr Afari-Gyan is the Chairman of the Ghanaian Electoral Commission and has a good knowledge of international standards and best practices on electoral matters as well as vast experience in election management,” the statement by Paul Odenyi, Mr Ekweremadu’s aide, said. Mr. Odenyi also said the Electoral Commission boss has confirmed his coming. Dr. Afari-Gyan-led Ghana’s election commission has successfully organized four general elections in the last 11 years. The elections are those that brought former President Jerry Rawlings into his last term in office, brought former President John Kufuor to power as well as his re-election. He also led the body in the election that brought the incumbent, John Atta Mills, to power early this year. Mr. Afari-Gyan was a member of the ECOWAS fact-finding team on the 2007 general elections in Nigeria. The six-member team, led by former Gambian President Dauda Jawara, appraised the preparations for the April 2007 election which brought President Umaru Yar’Adua to power. International support Mr. Ekweremadu had, earlier this month, said that the ad-hoc committee would seek technical assistance from international organizations in the task of reviewing the 1999 Constitution. Already, the committee has written to America’s National Democratic Institute for assistance. The decision is aimed at bringing in an international expert in the field of constitution and electoral laws as well as electoral management. The Senate ad-hoc committee is embarking on a separate amendment process from that of the House which is chaired by Deputy Speaker Usman Nafada. Both committees had disagreed over the position of Mr. Nafada in the National Assembly Joint Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution. The House committee has already conducted public hearings into the six bills forwarded to the National Assembly by President Umaru Yar’Adua. Its Senate counterpart, it was learnt, will organize hearings on the bills after the retreat in Kaduna. Source: Next.com

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WCI Malawi reports: Upcoming Elections Hold New Competition but also Promise for Women Candidates

By aileene | 2009.04.21 

In 2004 Women’s Campaign International (WCI) helped strengthen Malawi’s democracy by doubling the number of women elected to the National Parliament.  This achievement was attained through providing campaign trainings and technical support for women candidates interested i serving as competent and transparent  representatives.

Post-election, WCI helped the newly-elected women form a National Women’s Caucus, create a platform for action, develop a national HIV/AIDS Media Campaign and sign-on to critical committee posts within the Parliament.  Two of the women WCI trained moved on to become the National Minister of Health and the National Minister of Tourism.

In May of 2008,  WCI headquarters and field office staff met with the National Women’s Caucus to assess the need for a program aiming to increase women’s representation through the May 2009 elections. All members of the Women’s Caucus reported that they lack the skill sets and knowledge to organize a cost-efficient political campaign in this new and far more competitive election environment.  In contrast to their male counterparts, the vast majority of women MPs in Malawi lack staff, supplies and funding to support their campaigns.  Women seeking office for the first time have even fewer resources at their disposal, especially those who are campaigning to represent the needs of their constituents in poor, rural districts.

Malawi is now in the middle of its official 2009 campaign period leading up to the general elections on May 19^th, and, despite new challenges,  women are among the candidates vying for top posts in the government.  Two women with the newly formed Rainbow Coalition party are running for president and vice-president, and the current president Bingu wa Mutharika has chosen a woman as his running mate.  The 50:50 Campaign, a national program supporting women’s participation in politics, has offered support to all female candidates.  WCI supports the 50-50 Campaign and, through its program connections with UNICEF-Malawi, has joined forces with the initiative. WCI-Malawi consultant, Luke Malembo, writes, “It is very difficult to predict the outcome of the parliamentary elections because there are so many candidates in one constituency. However, The 50-50 campaign is progressing well. The National Ministry of Gender is coordinating the program and a number of trainings for women candidates have been organized by the Gender-NGO network.”

2004 Women's Caucus

These women face a difficult challenge in a country whose political system has traditionally been reserved for men, and whose 193-member Parliament has only 27 female representatives.  However, the program coordinator for 50:50, Bertha Sefu, sees changes in the public’s attitude towards women in politics and is optimistic that women’s representation will increase after the May elections.

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